The Lichborne - Grimaldus Proxy Complete

[YoungWolf7]

Yes, I would leave the skull off of the shoulder. It breaks up the silhouette too much.

[Volgon]

Appreciate the feedback @ZeroWolf@YoungWolf7

 

Continuing my kitbash adventures, I've been thinking up some new non-character conversions. With the new Execrator and Crusade Ancient models inbound soon, I'll likely use those as the basis for some characters who will need retinues they can lead, and that means more Sword Brethren/Castellan/Crusader Squad proxies. I adore the Black Templars range and really enjoy Chaosifying the armor as best I can.

 

The first is the oldest of the three, a basic Initiate with 2H Chainaxe (proxy for a power fist, 2x power fists for every squad is a bit boring). I also stuck on one of the heads I will be using for all of my basic troops from now on (still need to paint one up for the previous power fist guy):

 

 

Next up I'm thinking is potentially a leader for a Sword Brother or Crusader Squad, or perhaps a Marshal (Captain). I originally used the body of this guy as the basis for my previous Dark Apostle conversion. The Sigmar Chaos Chosen arm is canted a bit which makes it look awkward, so I might try to fix that or just replace it with something else:

 

Last is just a Sword Brother:

 

He's missing some details like shin armor and a backpack because I was just seeing if I could make the pose work and I think it comes off pretty well. Meant to look like he is about to swing downward with the sword. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

I really like the first and last

[Volgon]

Been working on a few things. I vowed my Grimaldus proxy for the Call to Arms painting event and have done a few bits on him:

 

Not done a lot so far but I'm quite happy with the results.

 

One thing I've had on my mind for a while is a new elite infantry squad. I cycled through a handful of ideas but nothing concrete except that I wanted to incorporate some defining aspects of the Sigmar Death factions. I really enjoy doing that when I can as it helps evoke a specific feeling when looking at the mini. When you look at the Grimaldus proxy and see the Nighthaunt bits it feels like he's interacting with undead spirits. It's something I wish I would have done earlier in the project, so that each mini feels like an undead entity rather than just a Chaos Marine with a skull helmet.

 

With that context, I've done a few hobby sessions working up a tester to see how I like it. I'm trying to make them look more skeletal and fantasy styled. I'll be using skull heads rather than helmets (in this case I used the head from the old WHFB Krell mini), I used Sigmar Chaos Chosen arms, and made the robes out of Deathrattle Skeleton bits. I kept the scale mail tabard as that is a prominent design piece on the wights and skeleton units in that faction. I'm considering using Plague Marine pads and backpacks as they have more bone bits which ties into the skeletal nature of the unit.

[Tallarn Commander]

Very creative! I can't wait to see the whole squad. As a CSM player and former Vampire Counts player yours is a project near to my heart.

[Volgon]

@Tallarn Commander That's so kind brother, thank you! This is my first army of any kind but I've always liked the same things: skeletons and heavy armor, so Chaos and Death factions (Vampire Counts, now SBGL and the Bonereapers) are right up my alley. The project started as a way of marrying those two concepts, but only recently have I really tried to push towards a more unified theme.

[Firedrake Cordova]

The spirits and fire effect look great

[Volgon]

Did some more work on the Crozius! Almost done with it but I think I'm going to try doing some glowing eyes at least, and I'd like to attempt a bit of OSL along the same axis as the ghosts down the weapon/arms/shoulder pad.

 

 

Also I forgot to post the final update for this guy, knocked out the head a week or two ago:

Edited July 8 by Volgon

[Volgon]

More work done! Knocked out some smaller details, as well as completing the robe and added some OSL to the crozius. Very happy with the robe; it was one of those rare cases where I had an idea and it worked out basically perfectly.

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Looks great!

[Tallarn Commander]

A superb model. I especially like your color pallette. Your placement of blues and reds draws the viewr's eye in a dramatic horizontal arc.

[space wolf]

The paint on those "spirits" looks great. Looking forward to seeing more.

 

[Volgon]

@Firedrake Cordova@Tallarn Commander@space wolf Thanks folks! Really happy with the progress on this guy, been a fun mini to paint.

 

Began working on some of the blue armor, mostly done on these pieces except I think I'll try smoothing the blend on the chestplate and forearm panel a bit more, and hit them all with some ultra matte varnish. Very happy overall though! I was not looking forward to blending as the first panel I did was the one on the inside of the wrist and I struggled to get it smooth. However, this mini was meant to be an exercise in layering which is not something I normally do. I did it on the crozius bones, on the ghostly bits, and on the robe, so I knew I could do it properly. I reworked my paint flow to incorporate more mixes of the various blues and this made glazing the gradients much easier which I am very happy to discover. 

 

[Volgon]

Been making progress a little bit at a time, almost done with the blue sections now.

 

Not really sure what I want to do with the etching on the shins. I abandoned my original plan pretty early as it wasn't going to work color wise. I've been thinking of doing the runes themselves (the bits that look like letters or numbers) in red as I have red runes on other minis in the army. The lines I might just leave dark blue, but I had thought about tinting them other colors using glazes:

• darker red than the runes
• burgundy (unifying color between the red runes and the purple cloth)
• purple (don't like this too much as I don't really want the purple runes to meld with the purple tabard)

Actually thought today about maybe using a metallic, that could look cool. Something really dark like the gold I used for the crozius or Warplock Bronze.

[Volgon]

I posted in the Stronghold thread but not in my own so, the Soulsmith is complete and so is my Call to Arms vow! Extremely happy with the result. I tried a lot of things on this guy. The ectoplasm/spectral stuff was something I hadn't done in quite a while so it was good getting some practice with that recipe again. The various bone areas were a new recipe which I think will become my go to, and on the bone bits specifically on the armor I went with a more patchy/rough look on purpose to emulate some weathered bone. The purple robe came out absolutely fantastic; it was one of those cases where I had an idea going in and executed it pretty much exactly as I'd hoped.

 

The jacket on the other hand was the complete opposite. I had seen a cloak on Reddit I wanted to try to emulate, but it didn't really work out, and by the end of it I didn't even realize how close in color the jacket was to the black armor/trim  I tried to salvage it with some brown glazes in the recesses to give it some color and the illusion it's maybe a dark black/brown/grey leather. I think the end result is ok but the color isn't really what I was going for.

 

Speaking of black armor, I tried a "real" recipe on this guy. At first I wasn't really sold on it, as I really want the armor to look MATTE BLACK and not blue black, or brown black, or grey black, or glossy black, etc. I have a very specific look I want and I've been struggling to get a recipe that ticks the boxes I'm trying to accomplish: matte black while still retaining a slight bit of contrast. After completing the entire mini though, I think I'm really pleased with how the black trim came out. It still reads as very black while having just a little bit of contrast for some visual interest. I think the black trim on the model's right (our left) knee is maybe the best blending I've ever done? It's a bit cheating with how dark the colors are but to my eyes the blend is nearly seamless, I am so happy with that area in particular.

 

Let me know what you think!

 

 

Not sure what is next up for the painting block. I've been inspired seeing other people's Saturnine Dreadnought conversions so I've been putting mine together slowly with the intention of using it as a Brutalis Dreadnought. I should have most of it assembled after next hobby session so after that there will be the usual: testing out poses, figuring out what greebles to put on and where, etc. However I've been considering a palette cleanser; I've had a Night Lords Praetor mostly finished that has sat in my pile for a while, and the new Captain Centos is a beautiful mini that I think would look great in Fire Hawks colors with some minor converting. 

Edited 14 hours ago by Volgon

[space wolf]

Looks great, your painting is super clean. As far as what you wanted to achieve with the black, id say you were successful!

[Tallarn Commander]

I agree. The blending on the black is sublime.
 

Yes, a true black is hard to achieve. I achieved decent results on a Chaos Enforcer’s coat earlier this year by blending an acrylic dark grey up to a lighter grey and then adding some layers of a black oil wash. But it still looked a little too grey for me.